A chart showing the auspiciousness of the 28 Lunar Mansions 二十八宿吉凶定居图: Chinese electional astrology

In this post I shall translate a short Chinese electional astrology text on the "Lunar mansions" or Xiu. It comes from the 2018 edn of the 集福堂 “Hall of collected fortune" almanac of China. This post was based on a twitter thread I published in 2021 https://x.com/edwardW2/status/1435541551598342146/

There are many such texts that are currently circulating in Chinese almanacs. They vary in form and content; some are 4 lines of 7-character verse; others have 8 lines of verse. per lunar mansion This particular poem. however is particularly concise- each judgment merely 12 characters long. Hence it is a ripe candidate for translation.

As some of my readers are no doubt aware, these Xiu 宿 are Chinese constellations. However, we are not concerned with these constellations today, but rather with their current use: as a cycle of 28 days that has no relation to the moon's position in the sky whatsoever. (Think of it as a 28-day week) Chinese almanacs tabulate what is the Xiu or lunar mansion assigned to a particular day. For example, the day I type this (10 Feb 2025) is assigned to the Xiu 心- heart, the 5th lunar mansion. Reading the relevant poem, we find it is an inauspicious day to marry or build. Tomorrow, by contrast will be assigned the 6th lunar mansion, Wei the tail. This is a propitious day to build or bury, as it brings officials.

Each Xiu is associated with an animal. I have taken the translations of the animal names from Thomas Thomas F. Aylward's _The Imperial Guide to Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology (his translation of 協記[辦方書)

which is one of the very few good books on Chinese astrology in English. Each entry of this text is headed with a small drawing of the relevant animal, which adds much to its charm.

Again, you might notice that each of the names of the xiu are associated with a planet/ one of the 5 phases. When the xiu are used in practise, each xiu lines up one of the seven days of the week; so, all the xiu assigned to the "sun"in them fall on Sundays; all the xiu with the word "Fire" on them fall on Tuesdays (as Tuesday- Mars day (martidi) - 火曜日)

As regards the categories of elections, the categories that are mentioned almost invariably in each entry are burial, marriage and construction- things which are in generally the preoccupation of Chinese electional astrology.

Some entries need a bit more explaining, such as mentions of “Doors” and “Water”. Doors, refers to auspicious days to fix/repair doors. “Releasing Water” I gather, surrounds opening irrigation ditches and suchlike works.Finally, as regards to the caveat attached at the end of the whole text, what the book is referring to is a rather complex form of divination called the "Evolving beasts" 演禽術, which somewhat resembles Greater Six Ren 大六壬 divination

Some other almanacs, like the Hong Kong 廣經堂 - Hall of Broad Classics almanac express an even more extreme skepticism about the lunar mansions:

值於舊曆書內所載之二十八宿，原為西城人士紀曆之用，本無吉凶之分，玉匣記附以吉凶詩斷，協記己闢非，今仍註於六甲子日之下者，實為保留紀曆作用，對星宿吉凶論斷，實毋需重視也。

"in the old calendars, were recorded the 28 mansions . These were originally used by the people of the Western Lands to record time, and originally were not divided into auspicious or inauspicious [xiu]. The Jade Box Record 玉匣記, has an appendix which contain poems judging the auspiciousness of each of the xiu; however The Imperial Guide to Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology has shown why [these poems] are baseless 闢非. These lunar mansions are placed beneath the 60 Stems and branches (in this almanac), for the sake of preserving their calendarical use. As for their [in]auspiciousness, in truth, one should put much stock by them.

Ancestor Peng's Hundred Prohibitions 彭祖百忌- Chinese electional astrology

I will now translate a short text of Chinese electional astrology, the Pengzu Bai ji = 彭祖百忌, "Ancestor Peng's hundred prohibitions" This is possibly the simplest text of Chinese Electional astrology there is, but AFAIK has never been translated into English. This blogpost is a republication of a twitter thread I did in about 2020. Ancestor Peng's Hundred Prohibitions shows the inauspicious activities for each of the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches. To use a western analogy, it is no more complex than using the day of the week to find auspicious days to do something. The present version was derived from the Baidu text https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%BD%AD%E7%A5%96%E7%99%BE%E5%BF%8C, which agrees with most printed sources. I have however referred to two other compendia of electional astrology, the Aspects of Auspiciousness almanac 象吉通書, and the Ao's head almanac 鰲頭通書 for alternate entries.

As a matter of background, The Chinese measure time using two cycles, one of ten terms which represents the 5 “Chinese elements” in their Yin and Yang forms), called the Heavenly stems, and one of 12 terms, which is the familiar chinese zodiac animals.The 2 cycles run concurrently, so the end result is the combinations of heavenly stems and earthly branches repeat every 60 terms.
Now, years, months, days and two-hour periods of each day are all assigned such terms. For the purposes of this text we are looking at the terms associated with the day. If you know the stem and branch associated with each day, The text shows what you should not do for on that day- hence its name
For example, the day I first posted this text on twitter-- 20 march 2020 was the day of the Yang Water Dog 壬戌, the 59th term of the cycle. as today has the Heavenly stem of Yang Water, I should not attempt to brew. As today has the earthly branch of the Dog, I should also not attempt to eat dogs.Similarly, As the next day was the day of the Yin Water Pig 癸亥, I should also not attempt to sue anyone, or get married. Furthermore As the sexagenary cycle is also used to number hours, some sources say that the prohibitions apply to the hours of the day as well.

Culpeper's Aphorisms part 4: on buildings, hidden treasure and marriage.

ELECTIONS For
Buildings,
Hidden treasure,
 & Marriage.
Collected, and put into this form,

BY NICH. CULPEPER Gent. Student in Astrologie. ,
Virgo 1647.

LONDON, Printed for Rich. Moone, & Steph. Chatfield.

1654.
________________


❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃
Here begins the text

Elections for the Beginnings or Foundations of BUILDINGS.

1. A Man ought to have a regard in all edifices, that they may stand and continue long.

2. In the Foundations of Cities, in the first place regard the fixed stars, then join benevolent Planets with them.

3. In the foundation of houses, first regard the Planets, and their natures; and in the second place, the nature of the Signes.

4. If the Moon be in Scorpio or Pisces, having latitude Meridional descending, begin no building: if you do, it will quickly fall down.

5. The most fortunate time of all, to begin buildings, is when the Moon is in Aquarius; or else let Aquarius ascend, and the Moon behold it, and the Fortunes also, by good aspect, to wit, the degree ascending.

6. Also, Leo and Taurus are good, but not so good as Aquarius.

7. Let not the Lord of the Ascendant  be combust, nor retrograde, nor in his fall, nor detriment, nor in ill aspect to any Planet.

8. If it be possible, let both the Luminaries behold the Ascendant .

9. At such a time, Saturn will do most good, or at least, least mischief in the twelfth house, and Mars in the sixth.

10. Beware that the Signe ascending at the revolution of the yeer, be not in the seventh house, when you lay the foundation: for then enemies enough will infest and molest the house.

E.W. The “Revolution of the year” is the moment the Sun enters 0 Aries for the year. Cast the chart for the moment the sun enters 0 aries for the year you are building in, in the location the building is in, and notice the asc and dsc. So if in your locale, Aquarius is the ascendant of the chart, it follows Leo is the 7^th house. For that year, do not build when Leo is in the ascendant.

11. The Lord of the Ascendant is strongest when he is in his Auge: for when he is opposite to his Auge, he is infortunate, because he is Retrograde.

            E.W. I gather the word Auge is the Arabic أوج, which means “apogee”

[Configurations that presage destruction]

12. If an ill Planet be peregrine in the tenth house, the building will stand as long as a Cat is tied to a Pudding: and yet you had better have Saturn there then Mars.

13. That City will be most infortunate, whose foundation is said when Mars is in M. C. for many of its Citizens and Princes or Rulers will die by the sword.

14. When the foundation is laid, let not the Moon be in Conjunction with Saturn, nor yet with the Dragons tail; nor yet let Saturn be in the Ascendant , nor yet in the fourth, if he be infortunate; for then the building will go on slowly, and be finished at Dooms-day in the afternoon; or if ever it be finished, and made habitable, the inhabitants will be possessed with incessant fears, and vain illusions, and fooleries, and thieves, and tribulations: and a thousand to one, if the building at last do not fall down upon a sudden.

15. If Mars be so seated, or so aspected, as we speak of Saturn in the former Aphorism, the house will be burnt down.

[exorcism]
16. If there be any phantastical apparitions in a house, and thou wouldst fain remove them, let not the Moon be in the Ascendant , in any of these signes, nor any of them ascending; viz. Cancer, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarie: and let her separate from evil Planets, and apply to good ones.

ELECTIONS

 Concerning Hidden Treasures.

1. Hidden Treasures belong to the fourth house, and to his Lord.

[Persons most qualified to find treasure]

2. If the Lord of the Ascendant , and the Lord of the fourth house, be fortunate in the Nativity of any, and in good aspect the one to the other, and the Luminaries behold the Ascendant  by good aspect; that native will be subject to, and fortunate in finding Hidden Treasures.

[Success of endeavour]

3. In Questions about such businesses, if the Lord of the fourth house be fortunate in the Ascendant , or Lord of the Ascendant , or Sun in the fourth house, the treasure may be found.

4. If in the Question Saturn, Mars, or the Dragons tail, be in the Ascendant , the Querent will take labour in vain in searching for it, and in the act will be troubled with foolish phantasies and illusions.

[Where treasure found]

5. If good Planets be in angles, let the game go which way it will, there is a possibility of finding it, if good courses be taken.

6. If you would know whether there be any treasure or no, consider the Angles of the heaven, especially the Ascendant , then the fourth, then the tenth: for the seventh is of little or no value, in such businesses as these.

7. If within the first degrees (to wit, five degrees from the Cusp) of these Angles, there be any good Planet, 'tis a good argument there is treasure hid.

8. If the Sign possessing the Cusp of the fourth house be a fiery Signe, it lies in the east part; if airy, the west; if watery, the north; if earthly, the south part of the house.

9. Fiery Signs signify it to be near chimneys; airy, on the top of the house, about the ceiling or rafters; watery Signs, near water; earthly Signs, in the earth, or cellars.

10. For the Planets, the Sun signifies open places; the Moon, neer gates or doors; Saturn, stinking moist places, cellars, and where they lay dust and coles. [coals]

11. Jupiter signifies halls of entertainment; Venus, bed-chambers; Mercury, walls.

12. You must also consider other testimonies, viz. the nature of the Signes, and of the Planets, Whether Oriental, or Occidental; whether Septentrional, or Meridional; and in what part of the heavens they be.

13. If the Lord of the Ascendant be in his house or exaltation, the treasure is great; if in his detriment or fall, 'tis worth little.

14. If the Lord of the Ascendant be Oriental, 'tis newly laid there: if Occidental, it hath been there a long time.

15. If the Lord of the Ascendant be fortunate, it may be had all; if infortunate, you must be content with part, and glad you can get that too.

16. Fiery and Airy Signs shew things of greater value then Earthly and Watery Signs do.

ELECTIONS FOR 

Marriage.

1. The Ascendant  stands for the man, the seventh house for the woman

2. In which of these two parts good Planets be, it will be best for them.

3. In both, beware of the end of Libra, and the beginning of Scorpio; for that is the combust way, and portends no good in such matters, nor in few other matters.

E.W. More precisely, 15 Libra to 15 Scorpio. However there are other definitions of the Combust way, or to give its latin name, the Via combusta . One tradtion defines it as being the whole of libra and scorpio. Another tradtion, found in the Picatrix, defines it as...

4. Let not the Moon be in combustion with the Sun; for that signifies death: nor in the combust way; for that signifies an ill end.

5. 'Tis ill in the time of Marriage, if the Moon apply to Saturn or Mars, be the Aspect never so good: for there will be neither Peace nor Love between them.

6. If you would marry to have many children, let the Moon be in Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces, not impedited: and if she be in the West, 'tis so much the better.

7. In all Marriages, let the Moon increase in light and number; let her have no ill Aspect to the Sun, nor any Aspect at all to Saturn or Mars.

8. Venus is the general Significatrix of Marriage; therefore 'tis best for the Moon to apply to her.

9. These Aphorisms are Fundamentals in Astrology: he that hath any brain, may finde a thousand more from them.

10. He that cannot make Elections for any of these businesses, from these Aphorisms, is unworthy the very name of an Artist.

E.W.: This is quite opposite to the and Indian Chinese traditions of astrology, where marriage is the single most complex area of elections; As for the Chinese astrology, It employs a great deal of specialised techniques, including considering the horoscopes of the bride and groom &c.

Revised, Sun 12 m. 1648. NICH. CULPEPER.

Epigraph:
Crede mihi miseris coelestia numina parcunt. 1647.

Culpeper's aphprisms part 3: elections for going on journeys

ELECTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS,
Concerning Journeys:
 Collected by NICH. CULPEPER Gent.

Student in Astrology and Physick. Virgo 1647.

LONDON, Printed for Rich. Moone, & Steph. Chatfield.

1654.
____________

The first 20 or so aphorisms show an interesting point; They can be used 'backwards'. For example, by aphorism no. 15, i should try to avoid starting a journey, at a time when Mars is in the 3rd or 9th houses. On the other hand, supposing I left in a hurry, and some time later came to analyse the chart, then I would predict the presence of thieves along the way. 

Some historians inform us that horary astrology arose from a similar idea: Electional astrology began to be used backwards (Eg: Is it auspicious to travel now? ~>  What happens if I travel now?) This form of astrology was known as 'inceptional astrology' as you took the moment of the inception for casting the chart. From there it is but a short step to actually casting the chart the moment the question occurs to you(eg: Should I travel?) That is the essence of Horary astrology, 

*** *** *** 

Observations.

[Going to see a king by the moon sign.]

1. HE that goes about any business to a King or Prince, when the Moon is in Aquarius, he may be received: but the King will not regard him, nor his Suit.

2. If the Moon be in Pisces, the King will not let him see his face.

3. If any demand any thing of another (which may in Reason be granted) when Capricorn is in the Mid-heavens, and Jupiter in it, and the Moon applying to him; or if separating from him, she apply to the Lord of the Ascendant ; or if the Lord of the Ascendant  apply to Jupiter, he will quickly obtain his desire.

[weather]

4. Venus causeth rain and moisture; Mercury, short journeys and changes.

5.Venus in the first degree of Cancer at the Conjunction of the Luminaries, or any other great Conjunction, causeth great Rains.

6. In all Elections, fortify the Lord of the Ascendant , and the Lord of the house of the thing desired.

E.W. For example, if I wanted to go on a long journey, I should begin it at a time when the ascendant ruler and the ruler of the 9^th house are essentially dignified; the two rulers need not be the same planet.

[Planetary conditions  in elections]

7. Saturn doth most mischief in long journeys, Mars in short.

8. Fixed Signes forbid journeys, moveable Signes urge them, the later end of Libra excepted.

9. The Moon increasing in light, in good Aspect to the Sun, helps forward Journeys.

10. When an Infortune receives a Fortune by good Aspect, it works no mischief.

11. In Journeys, the greatest impediment a Planet can have, is to be peregrine.

12. Cancer regards the Sea most; and Pisces, Rivers.

[Bad configurtions]

13. Every thing which is suddenly made, and suddenly destroyed, and suddenly re-made, the cause is in Mars.

14. Every thing that is suddenly made, and suddenly destroyed, and remains long in destruction, is caused by Saturn and Mars.

15. When you go a journey by land, 'tis bad to have Mars in the ninth or third, because he signifies thieves: but 'tis worse to have him in the second.

16. When you would go into the Country, let the Lord of the second house be in a fortunate place, and not in the fourth house, nor in the Ascendant .

17. At the very time when you enter a journey, take heed there be no ill Planet in the seventh house: for that signifies evil will befall thee, in the place to which thou goest.

18.Yet if he be well dignified, and in good aspect to the Lord of the Ascendant , the mischief will not be much.

[More general aphorisms]

19. If the Lord of the ninth house be in the Ascendant , the journey will be made with honour and profit.

20. If the Lord of the Ascendant  give power to the Lord of the ninth, the Journey will be good and profitable.

21. In short Journeys, view the Lord of the third, because he is Lord of short Journeys.

22. In all Journeys, view the Moon, because she is general Significatrix of Journeys.

23. And have a special care to the Lord of the hour: for if he be impedited when you take a Journey, he will do as much mischief as the Lord of the Ascendant  if he be impedited.

24. The Significator of Messengers and Ambassadors is the Lord of the fifth house.

25. The hours of Saturn and Mars are ill to take a journey in; the hours of Jupiter, Venus, and the Luminaries, is good.

26. In Journeys, the impediments of Saturn are very many; and may be known by the nature of the Signe he is in.

27.For example: if in a Sea-journey, at the setting forth, Saturn ascend in Pisces, the ship will suffer ship-wrack.

28. Take no journey by Sea, when a fiery Signe ariseth: for then a watery Signe is in the eighth house.

29. If you go to a Prince or King, let the Sun be fortunate, and let Aries or Leo ascend.

30. In all journeys, let not the Lord of the Ascendant nor hour be impedited, nor in combustion, nor Square, nor Opposition to the Sun; neither let the Moon be in the Ascendant .

31. When the Sun is in his own house or exaltation in the day, or the Moon in hers in the night, and one of them Lord of the hour, it is good to take a journey.

32. If at such a time the Sun or Moon behold the tenth house, it is so much the better.

33. If the Sun or Moon give power to the Lord of the Ascendant , it is good.

[The best part of the world to live in]

34. By a Nativity you may judge which part of the world is best for any to live in: if you have not the Nativity, you may judge it by a Question.

In other words, if you do not know the exact moment you are born, cast a horary chart for the moment the question ‘where should I live’ occurs to you, and interpret accordingly.

35. If the Fortunes be joyned with the Lord of the Ascendant , between the M. C. and the Ascendant , it is best for him to live eastward.

36. This is also so much the better, if the Question be demanded in the forenoon.

37. But if the Fortunes be between the seventh and fourth house, the Western part is best for him, and most profitable for him to live in. And if the Question be demanded between sun-set and midnight, it is more prevalent.

38. The other parts of the heaven may easily be gathered from these.

39. These all will be far more significant, if the Lord of the hour be a Fortune, and the Lord of the Ascendant  joyned with a Fortune.

[Horaries for absent persons. ]

40. If a Question be demanded, to know the return of a man, behold whether the Lord of the Ascendant , or the Moon, be in the tenth, or in the Ascendant : for then he will return.

41. If the Lord of the Ascendant  be retrograde, he will quickly return: if direct, it makes his return the slower.

42. Moveable Signes hasten his return; fixed, delay it; mean Signes make him travel from one place to another.

43. If the Lord of the Ascendant  give his strength to the Lord of the ninth or third houses, or to any Planet in those houses, his return will be slow enough.

44. If the Lord of the Ascendant  be in the tenth, in a moveable Signe, he will not stay a day before he come home, but certain hours only

45.By considering the Signe the Significator is in, whether fickle, fixed, or mean, and his difference from the Cusp of the Angle, or from the body or Aspect of the Significator of the Querent; and guiding your judgement by Reason, according to the thing quesited, you may judge how many hours, days, weeks, months, or yeers, it will be before he return.

[The role of the Moon in questions]

46. The Moon also hath great strength in such Questions.

47. Notwithstanding, if she be in the second, sixth, eighth, or twelfth houses, regard her not.

48. Also, if the Ascendant  be Leo or Aquarius, Gemini or Sagittary, the Moon is of little force: not so in other Signes; the reason is, because these Signes have no aspect to Cancer the house of the Moon.

[The role of the 5^th house in elections]

49. Also, give the Lord of the fifth house to the Messenger or Ambassadour; and the Lord of the Ascendant  to the Querent; and give judgement of his return by the former Rules.

50. If the Question be about any that is sent to receive money, see what application the Lord of the fifth hath with the Lord of the second, and judge accordingly.

51. If the Lord of the fifth house be separated from the Lord of another house, you may see what hath been done already, by the signification of that house; and whether it be good or bad, by the signification of the Planet he is separated from.

[more general aphorisms]

52. And also, you may know whether the business be effected wholly, or in part, by the strength of the Significators.

53.Also, you may note what Planet either impedites or strengthens the Significators; and so you may know the cause of it.

54.If the Question be about Honour, take the Lord of the tenth house, and work accordingly.

55. Another way to judge of returns, is this: See if the Moon be Lady of the hour of the Question: if so, and she be strong, she is Significatrix of the return: if she give beams to the Lord of the fifth house, he will return when she comes to his place, or perfect Aspect.

56. But if she aspect the Ascendant , he will return when she comes to the degree ascending at the Question.

57. But let judgement herein be ruled by Reason; namely, if there be a possibility of his returning so speedily.

58. By these Rules may any Astrologer, that is not troubled with the Simples, easily make Elections for the beginnings of any of these businesses.

This Treatise was revised, Sun 12m. 1648 . NICH. CULPEPER.

Ancestor Peng's Hundred Prohibitions 彭祖白忌

I republish this post from my twitter account, @edwardW2. It was originally published on Mar. 20th 2020: The numbers followed by a slash are the paragraphs of the original tweet, and are retained for reference.

1/ I will now translate a short text of Chinese Eectional astrology, the Pengzu Bai ji = 彭祖百忌, "Ancestor Peng's hundred prohibitions" This is possibly the simplest text of Chinese Electional astrology there is, but AFAIK has never been translated into English.

2/ This text shows the inauspicious activities for each of the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches; 'tis no more complex than electing using the day of the week. The present version was derived from https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%BD%AD%E7%A5%96%E7%99%BE%E5%BF%8C

, but agrees with most printed sources.

___The text and its translation____

3/Jia: Yang Wood

甲不開倉，財物耗亡；

Do not open a storeroom on Jia; Wealth and objects will be lost

4/ Yi: Yin Wood

乙不栽植，千株不長；

Do not plant on Yi; No plants will grow

5/ Bing: Yang Fire

丙不修灶，必見灾殃；

Do not build a stove on Bing; It would invite disaster

6/ Ding: Yin Fire

丁不剃頭，頭主生瘡；

Do not shave the head on Ding; It would cause boils on the head

7/ Xu: Yang Earth

戊不受田，田主不祥；

Do not receive land on Xu. It is inauspicious for the owner.

8/ Ji: Yin Earth

己不破券，二比并亡；

Do not make agreements on Ji , Neither side would benefit.

Note: Some sources such as wenku.baidu.com/view/7733b1c48… interpret this to mean all trading is unsuitable.

9a/Geng: Yang Metal

庚不經絡，織機虛張

Do not meddle with the meridians on Geng; The body will be harmed.

Note: In simple terms, moxibustion, & other traditional Chinese medical treatments that interfere with the body’s meridians (energy channels) should not be done on Geng, for fear of damaging the organs. 

9b/ The literal translation of this line is “Do not Warp and weft on Geng; the loom will be void”; as the term for meridians 經絡 literally refers to the the horizontal & vertical threads in a loom.

10a /Xin: Yin metal

辛不合酱，主人不嘗；

Do not brew on Xin; it would not taste good.

10b/

Xin cont'd

辛不求醫，主人不當

Do not seek a doctor on Xin, It will not bode well for the patent

(this is an Alternate version from a major date-selection compendium "The aspects of Auspiciousness almanac" xiangji tongshu 象吉通書:)

11a/

Ren: Yang Water

1.壬不汲水，更難提防；

(alternate) 2.壬不决水，更難提防；

1. Do not Draw water on Xin, It would be hard to control.

2. Do not Release water on Xin, it would be hard to control.

11b/ Note: The two websites have different interpretations of the phrase. This website  interprets drawing water from a well (the meaning of 汲)as bringing unexpected disasters on yourself...

11c/ Whereas ifreesite.com/calendar/pengz… interprets it as meaning the water would be contaminated.

An alternate version that is sometimes found is (2). This version has 决 instead of 汲. 决 means “release” or breach; this I interpret as breaching dykes and dams for irrigation.

12/ Gui: Yin Water

癸不詞訟，理弱敌强；

Do not sue on Gui; Your cause will be weak, the opponent’s cause strong.

The section on Earthly branches follows: 

13/ Zi= Rat

子不問卜，自惹祸殃；

Do not divine on Zi. You will get mistaken

14/ Chou: Ox

丑不冠带，主不還鄉；

Do not perform the capping ceremony on chou; the person will not return to the village.

Note: Modern sources say this expands to putting on new clothes of any sort wenku.baidu.com/view/7733b1c48…

15/ Yin: Tiger

寅不祭祀，神鬼不嘗；

Do not pray on yin. The spirts will not get [the offerings].

16/ Mao: Rabbit

卯不穿井，水泉不香；

Do no dig wells on Mao. The water will not be fragrant.

Chen: Dragon

辰不哭泣，必主重喪；

Do not weep on Chen; You will surely weep again.

18/ Si: Snake

巳不遠行，財物伏藏；

Do not travel far on Si; Wealth and objects will elude your grasp.

19/ Wu: Horse

午不苫蓋，屋主更張

Do not cover [a house] with straw on wu. The houseowner will change.

Nb: d1xz.net/rili/jiri/art1… interprets it as a prohibition on all forms of building; if this is ignored, the owner will be forced to sell the dwelling

20/ Wei: Goat

未不服藥，毒氣入肠；

Do not make medicines on Wei; Poisonous Qi will enter the guts.

21/ Shen: Ape

申不安床，鬼祟入房；

Do not position the bed on Shen. Ghosts will haunt the room.

22/ You: Chicken.

酉不宴客，醉坐颠狂；

Do not banquet on You; Drunkenness and madness will result.

22b/ Alternate, from Aspects of Auspiciousness almanac 象吉通書。

22b/ Alternate from【象吉，鰲頭】 酉不出雞，今其耗亡

Do not Let out chickens on You, bad news and death will be received at once.

 Note: This is because You's animal representation is the Chicken.

23/ Xu: Dog

戌不吃犬，作怪上床；

Do not eat dogs on Xu. Ghosts and weird things will ascend to your bed.

Note: This is because Xu has the zodiac sign of the Dog. All the almanacs retain this oddly specific prohibition

24/ Hai: Pig.

亥不嫁娶，不利新郎；

【象吉，鰲頭】亥不出豬，再養難償

Do not marry on Hai; This is bad for the groom.

Alternate, from Aspects of auspiciousness almanac: Do not send out pigs on Hai, it will be hard to rear them onwards.

25/ Background: The Chinese measure time using two cycles, one of ten terms (which represents the 5 “Chinese elements” in their Yin and Yang forms), called the Heavenly stems, and one of 12 terms, which is the familiar chinese zodiac animals.

26/ The 2 cycles run concurrently, so the end result is the combinations of heavenly stems and earthly branches repeat every 60 terms. (for more see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagenar… )

27/ Now, years, months, days and two-hour periods are all assigned such terms. For the purposes of this text we are looking at the terms associated with the day. If you know the stem and branch associated with each day,

The text shows what you should not do for on that day.

28/ For example, as I type this, today is the day of the Yang Water Dog 壬戌,, the 59th term of the cycle. Looking at the text above, as today has the Heavenly stem of Yang Water, I should not attempt to brew...

29/ In turn, as today has the earthly branch of the Dog, I should also not attempt to eat dogs. [I guess BrewDog beer is doubly forbidden...]

30/ Similarly, As tomorrow is the day of the Yin Water Pig 癸亥, I should also not attempt to sue anyone, or get married

31. As the sexagenary cycle is also used to number hours, some sources say that the prohibitions apply to the hours of the day as well.

32/ If you want to know what is the stem/branch combination for today, there are some twitter handles that give them out. The best is @SeriousFengShui.

33/ But if you look at the stem/branch combination, posted on her feed daily, she does not mention whether the element is yin or yang! Not to worry, there is a way of figuring it out...

34/ If you looked at the sexagenary cycle in full, you will notice something unusual. The odd-numbered Earthly branches (Rat,Tiger,Dragon,Horse,Ape, Dog) will always pair up with the Yang elements...

35/... and the even numbered ones (ox,Rabbit,Snake,goat,Chicken,Pig) will always pair up with Yin elements.

36/ So there is the Yang Wood rat 甲子, Yang fire rat丙子, Yang earth rat戊子, Yang metal rat庚子, and Yang Water rat壬子, but no Yin wood rat 乙子 etc.. Similarly, there is the Yin wood pig 乙亥, and Yin water pigs癸亥, but no Yang wood pig 甲亥, or yang water pig 壬亥.

37 As such, you could deduce the polarity of the element from the “Animal” alone. It follows, specifying that today is the day of the “Yang Wood Rat” is superfluous, as the combination Yin Wood Rat does not exist.

38/ Now, this is the simplest form of Chinese electional astrology. There is, however a more complex form of elections, which involves comparing the day with the month it is in.

39/ The simplest example of which is what is known in the west as the twelve day officers, or the “Establish-rid” cycle in China 建除, after the first 2 terms in the cycle. Ancestor Peng also has things to say about this cycle, but that is another thread for another time...